President Obama (left), Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the North American Leaders' Summit, known as the "Three Amigos" meeting.

Photo: Jewel Samad, AFP/Getty Images

President Obama (left), Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and...

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President Obama signs an executive order streamlining the export/import process for American business while en route to Toluca, Mexico, aboard Air Force One to meet with the leaders of Canada and Mexico.

Pressed by North American allies on an array of politically fraught issues, President Obama on Wednesday vowed to press ahead with stalled efforts to expand trade agreements for the Americas into Asia and overhaul fractured U.S. immigration laws. But Obama made no promises to frustrated Canadian leaders about his long-anticipated decision on the Keystone XL pipeline.

Closing a day of talks with the leaders of Mexico and Canada, Obama said the North American partners must maintain their "competitive advantage" on trade, in part by expanding into the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region. And he downplayed opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement from members of his own Democratic Party on Capitol Hill.

"We'll get this passed if it's a good agreement," Obama declared during a joint news conference with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

The North America Leaders' Summit - often referred to as the "Three Amigos" meeting - coincided with the 20th year of the North American Free Trade Agreement among the three countries, a deal that has vastly expanded cross-border commerce in the region but which remains a contentious issue in the United States over its impact on jobs and on environmental protections.

Trade experts say the agreement is due for an upgrade to take into account the current globalized environment and to address issues not touched in the original pact. But rather than reopen NAFTA, the three countries are instead relying on negotiations under way to complete the TPP, which is a trade bloc of 12 countries in the Americas, Asia and the Pacific.

Peña Nieto and Harper echoed Obama's support for expanding North American trade into Asia and the Pacific.

Despite the widespread agreement on trade, there were some sources of tension between the North American partners on immigration and the Keystone XL pipeline, both sensitive political issues in the United States.

In Mexico, government officials and the public alike are eager for progress in overhauling U.S. immigration laws. The prospects for sweeping legislation this year has dimmed in recent weeks, but Obama said, "Immigration reform remains one of my highest priorities."